In Linden Lab’s online 3D virtual world known as Second Life, members of the growing community are always trying to outdo one another with their customizable characters, business dealings and fanciful creations. That competitive spirit was recently spotlighted by the second annual Game Developer’s Competition, which has 16 teams trying to develop the best game in the Second Life space. Renowned game designer and programmer Doug Church (Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Thief), who is currently with Crystal Dynamics, judged the competition and winners were announced today.
One of the coolest things about this contest is seeing how far Second Life has come as a development platform," says Philip Rosedale, CEO and founder of Linden Lab. "Today, as a result of the openness of the authoring tools and the efforts of thousands of people, games are materializing that combine ambitious scripting, innovative content and the ingenuity of many to create what may well be a new class of games. It wouldn’t surprise me to see some of these games get published outside of Second Life, further demonstrating that Second Life is a great tool for building and prototyping your development ideas.”
Competitors this year were given “extra credit” tasks including injecting experiences with narrative and collaborative gameplay, and integrating a backpack or wearable object providing players with scoring information and inter-player communication. After 3 months of development time, six projects were chosen for evaluation by Church.
First Place went to Primmies, an interpretation of the popular RTS/puzzle genre. The development team led by Jeffrey Gomez created a game that has players guide their intrepid band of Bills, Bettys, Boomers and others through traps, mazes and the Second Life environment itself.
Team leader Gary Bukowski and crew took second place for EVA, a work of immersive fiction with alternate reality game elements. The game is set inside Second Life, though some game elements take place outside of the world. Players soon find others who have pooled their efforts to solve puzzles and document a sprawling trail crossing websites, blogs, email/chat conversations and other interactions.
Taking third place is Tiger Crossing, the team behind The Board. An evil magic board game has taken over the city, turning all residents into playing cards and forcing outsiders to walk its tiled paths. Players must overcome obstacles, vanquish opponents and solve puzzles to complete quests and earn medallions that unlock the final boss battle.
Honorable mention was given to Riddle City Ransom (team leader Satchmo Prototype), Krytterz (team leader Kermitt Quirk) and Podlets (eam leader Lumpy Tapioca). A full list of results and more info can be found at http://secondlife.com/developers/contest2005.php.
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